Four for Chesterton

Language and the Right to Fair Hearing in International Criminal Trials

“…Arzoz argues that the practical meaning of language rights has not yet been established anywhere. 232 Language rights are generally concerned with the rules that public institutions adopt with respect to language use in a variety of different domains. 233 It is left to the discretion of the various institutions to determine the significance of those rights in their sphere of operation.…”

“…The rule is that the defendant's right to translation of documents into a language they understand extends neither to all documents in the case-file nor to all filings submitted. 238 ICTs have accordingly denied requests for translation of all documents, arguing that translation of every 232 See Arzoz (2009), p. 544. 233 See Arzoz (2009), p. 544.…”

“…231 The interpreter would neither understand nor interpret fast speech fully or accurately. Edwards notes that the real danger of excess speed is that it is possible to interpret half an hour of speech and still miss the real meaning and not transmit it to the end users.…”

“…Edwards notes that the real danger of excess speed is that it is possible to interpret half an hour of speech and still miss the real meaning and not transmit it to the end users. 232 Fast testimony also affects the ability of an interpreter to speak effectively. The interpreter may speed up and stumble over words, sometimes repeating words in the source language instead of transmitting them in the target language.…”